(A/N)

Hey everyone. Sorry for missing posting last week, I was just busy and only had half the chapter done at that point. I'm also working a little bit on another SDS fanfic, which will only be 5 chapters long and I plan to only post when I'm done with all the chapters.

I actually didn't get any reviews on the last chapter, so we'll skip responses.

Enjoy the chapter!

"Are you sure, Zinnia?" Delphi was asking me for about the hundredth time. "You know you can stay here for as long as you want. Even with what happened the other day, it's far safer here than where you're going."

It had been a few days since the incident with the Albion. I had managed to get away with no broken bones, and was somewhat healed by now, but I got off easy compared to the rest of Akshur. About half the town was destroyed, either blasted by the Albion or crushed by falling branches. Many people - both fairies and elves - had died during the fight. I'd even heard that Harlow had died, leaving Elrick and Ella even more orphaned than before, and a couple of fairies had decided to watch over them. Helbram had helped with rebuilding the town while I recovered, but I had decided that it was about time we left. I would go back to the Sins and see if I could find out what was going on; surely they would know.

Monsters like that Albion don't just start attacking for no reason. In fact, Zephyr had told me how Albions were golems made by demons to fight in wars. They should have disappeared long ago. Something was definitely up.

"Thank you, Delphi." I dipped my head to him. Even if he wasn't a Fairy King, and even if his personality was a bit childish most of the time, I still respected him greatly. "I appreciate the offer, but Zephyr and I have been here long enough. We really should get going. There's also something that I want to ask Meliodas about."

"Even though you're injured?" he asked me worriedly, eyeing the bandages that still wrapped my arms and legs.

"She'll be fine!" Helbram told the blue fairy. His eyes, which also held a trace of worry, shined gold in the sunlight. Since we were out at the edge of the field that marked the border of Akshur, it was now easy to see the complexion difference between the two fairies. Delphi was quite pale due to so much time spent in the shade, while Helbram had more of a far healthier color to his cheeks. It was so weird seeing the differences things like that can make. The fairies I'd met here seemed less care-free than what I'd heard the ones from the main Forest were like. So many slight differences.

Wait. Both of the other fairies were looking at me. They'd probably heard what I'd been thinking about. Why did my mind have to wander at the most random of times?

With an amused furrow of Helbram's brow, he shook his head and turned back to the guardian fairy. "Anyway, we shouldn't take too long to find the Seven Deadly Sins - not with Zephyr-kun guiding us. Until then, I can keep Zinnia safe." He gave Delphi a closed-eyed smile. "Zinnia may have stolen the spotlight during the fight with the Albion, but I'm pretty strong, myself."

Delphi smiled back, revealing his teeth with a small laugh. "I'm sure you are! I've actually heard a lot about you from Zinnia. I can tell that she thinks highly of you." He shot me an amused look. I didn't remember telling him about Helbram at all, unless… "She was constantly thinking about you: wondering how you were and wishing you were here. There was more than one time that she would spend hours on end wondering how you felt-"

"Ahh, Delphi! Please stop!" My face was bright red. I had assumed that Delphi hadn't been nearby during those times. Why is Delphi doing this to me?

The teasing light in his eyes sparkled mischievously, but he pressed his lips together and didn't say any more.

I turned to Helbram and saw that his eyes had widened and his eartips were more pink than normal, but he was trying to not show it. Instead, he had decided to inspect the forest that edged the field, where we would soon be heading.

Come on, you two. Zephyr hopped out of my shadow with a sigh. We're losing daylight. If we can't use my shadows because of Zinnia's injuries, then I'd at least like to travel as far as we can. I can already tell that they're nowhere nearby, so we have a long ways to go.

""Yeah, you're right, Zephyr." I nodded at the fox, snapping out of my embarrassment. "We should get going." Waving at Delphi, I turned to go, only to immediately stop as he rushed forward and hug me.

"I'm serious! Come back anytime you want! And please be careful out there." His violet eyes were rounded in concern. "I have a bad feeling about everything going on right now."

I hugged him back and released him, giving him a weak smile as I stepped away. So I wasn't the only one with a bad feeling. "Of course, Delphi. Thank you so much. I'll never be able to thank you enough for the hospitality you've shown me and Zephyr while we were here." And with a dip of my head, I turned around and left the field, heading into the forest and away from Akshur.

"So what was it like, going all demon-y back there, anyway?" Helbram asked as we steadily flew through the forest, Zephyr leading the way. "You looked like you were about to lose it worse than I did when I tried to kill Harlequin." At the moment, Helbram was floating along on his side, propping his head on his elbow as he looked at me. I was surprised he hadn't run into any trees yet. I was in the more practical flying position of leaning slightly forward and facing ahead.

"I don't know… I guess it was overwhelming?" I pondered the question. I hadn't really thought about it since it had happened. "At first it was like I was drowning in all my negative emotions and worries, but then…"

"Then?" Helbram prompted when I had been silent for a moment. I even noticed Zephyr glance back from his place in front of us.

"Then I thought of all the wonderful things I'd been through. I thought of you, and Zephyr, and Harlequin, Meliodas, and the other Sins. I thought of times I hadn't even realized I remembered. And then... Kay…"

"That guy that died super long ago?" Helbram perked up in surprise. "What about him?"

"He just… I don't know… He just kind of appeared. It felt more real than the memories that I'd been going through, and it was something that never happened while he was alive. It was like he was actually speaking to me then and there. But when I tried to speak back, he vanished."

Helbram gave me a thoughtful look. "Maybe he was speaking to you. Sometimes spirits can do that, especially in places of importance to them. Is Akshur near where he died?"

I glanced down, but had to look back up as I almost flew into a tree. "Akshur is exactly where Kay died. It's built right on top of Kay's hometown, Voryn." I shot my gaze to the other fairy, seeing him twist to float more upright.

"Then it's likely that it was him. He might have been trying to help you out when you needed it." He looked to the fox shade that was racing ahead of us. "Did he say anything?"

I gave Helbram a sad smile. "He said that my wings were beautiful. The last thing he said to me before he died was that he'd wanted to live long enough to see my wings."

Helbram smiled back at me. "He sounds like a good guy."

"He was."

After that, we lapsed into silence. We broke out of the forest into a large field, only to once again enter a forest. The whole way, Zephyr was sniffing the air and glancing back and forth. To the untrained eye, he would appear lost. But I knew better. He was following my connection to one of the Sins - he hadn't told me which one - in order to lead us to them. Every once in a while he would turn abruptly and Helbram and I would nearly overshoot him, having to suddenly stop mid-air in order to not lose the dark fox.

Once we had travelled a few hours, Helbram broke the silence once again. "You know you weren't the only one fighting the Albion, right?"

"What?" The sudden words after so long had surprised me, and I didn't understand what he said for a moment.

"The Albion in Akshur. There were a bunch of fairies fighting it besides you. Even I was fighting, which is why I didn't have time to stop you and pull you away." He chuckled and grinned at me. "You didn't really think you fought off that monster single-handedly, did you?"

I stared at him blankly.

"You did think you killed it by yourself!" He broke down laughing, nearly slowing to a stop before speeding up to make sure Zephyr didn't leave us behind. "There were a ton of fairies and even some elves helping to take it down and stopping it from moving any closer to the tree. A lot of people were chipping away at it from behind, which is probably what made your final attack so effective. You nearly hit some people!" He was dying of laughter, and my face was turning crimson in embarrassment. "Wow, you really lose sight of your surroundings when you're fighting, don't you?"

I just looked away from him, scratching my neck and giving a quiet laugh. "I guess you're right. It makes sense that I would never have been able to beat that thing myself."

We're there. Zephyr's voice broke into the conversation, and I looked ahead to see that he had paused in his tracks. I slowed to a stop beside him, setting my feet on the ground, and Helbram did the same.

It was only now that I fully noticed that we weren't in the forest anymore; I had been so surprised and embarrassed by what Helbram had said that I hadn't even realized when the scenery had changed. Now we were in an open, rocky field at the base of a hill. Many small stacks of stones littered the area, and there were a few places where one stone was deliberately placed on top of two other ones, forming what appeared to be a doorway beneath. Wind whipped through the grass, causing waves of color to ripple across the field. While it was a beautiful sight, it was also blowing my hair into my face and causing my cloak to flap violently behind me.

I pushed my hair out of the way and tucked it behind my ear before turning questioningly to Zephyr. "There's nothing here. Where are they?" I looked around as though the giant boar and its hat-like tavern would appear out of thin air, however, the place was just as empty and rock-strewn as before.

Helbram was looking around in confusion as well, holding his hands above his eyes to block out excess sunlight. "No taverns, giants, humans, or fairies in sight." Then he smirked at me. "Besides us, of course."

This isn't right… Zephyr's brow was furrowed. They should be right around here. Right over… He padded forward, directly towards one of the stone archways. Sniffing around the base of it, he walked in between the stones, only to disappear.

"Zephyr!?" Jolting in surprise, I rushed after the fox, and I could sense more than see Helbram doing the same.

As soon as I passed between the pillars, the field changed around me. A lake lined either side of a thin land bridge leading to an island containing two stone structures. On the right of the island was a stone spire, and on the left stood a mound that was shaped more like a giant stone tree stump than anything else. I could see from here that there appeared to be a crack in the side of it, probably leading to some caves or rooms. Around the lake the earth rose up, forming a bowl shape, as though something unimaginably huge had scooped a handful of the land away.

But it was none of these things that I was focused on.

Directly in front of me stood the Seven Deadly Sins. Well- some of them. Meliodas, Harlequin, Gowther, and Merlin were all facing away from me, talking to someone I couldn't see. Elizabeth stood at their side, along with a couple others that I vaguely remembered someone pointing out to me: Slader and King Arthur. Gowther and Arthur were closer to me on the path, while all the others were about halfway along the bridge, where it widened out into a platform. What an odd assortment of people.

Found them. Zephyr told me with a triumphant glint in my eye from only a few feet in front of me. He was sitting with his nose in the air and his tail wrapped around his paws, giving off a very satisfied air.

As soon as he spoke the words, both Meliodas and Harlequin glanced back. I managed to catch sight of the Captain pulling his hand away from a young girl that was standing in front of him, making me curious as to what was going on, but all thoughts of that vanished from my mind as he smiled.

"Yo, Zinnia, Zephyr-kun! I was wondering when you guys would show up!" He waved casually like I hadn't just travelled miles to find everyone. Now that he had turned, I could see that the three people I didn't know - the brunette girl he had pulled away from along with a blond girl and someone that I couldn't tell if he was a man or a boy due to his conflicting large size and young expression - didn't seem surprised in the slightest by my appearance.

"Helbram!" Harlequin seemed happy to see his friend as he flew around Arthur and Gowther (who were now looking at us with varying expressions of curiosity) to approach us. However, as he approached, he hesitated when he set his eyes on me. An indescribable emotion flashed through his eyes before he seemingly pushed whatever it was away and turned back to Helbram. "It's good to see you again!" I suspected that even after his time with Helbram while I was gone, he still wanted time to catch up with his old friend that had been gone for so long. "But we don't have time to catch up right now; Diane's missing."

"What? How?" I spluttered as Helbram gave the Fairy King a concerned look. It crossed my mind that Helbram had been giving him that same look since Harlequin had hesitated a moment ago, as though he'd heard something unpleasant from Harlequin's heart, but I brushed it off. He had probably been worrying about Diane even then.

Helbram opened his mouth to speak, but the blond girl - who I now noticed was gripping Hawk in one arm - nodded to me and turned back to the Sins with a confident smile before speaking up. "We know very well why you've come to the Holy Land!"

I pulled a confused face, turning to the closest person that I thought might have answers. "Harlequin, what's the Holy Land? And why are we here?"

He didn't answer though, instead opting to fly back to the rest of the group. Why did he ignore me? But when I glanced at Helbram for answers, the other fairy just had the same concerned expression as before.